Lady Dacre

Set in early 19th-century England, this novel explores the emotional and social dilemmas faced by a principled young woman navigating love, loss, and the expectations of her class. Through its quiet domestic detail and moral depth, the story offers a window into the gender roles and genteel constraints of its time. Written with insight and subtle wit, it is a classic of early English women’s fiction that rewards both historical and literary interest.

Barbarina Ogle Brand, Lady Dacre (1768-1854), was an English poet, playwright, and translator and one of the most accomplished women of her time. This first volume of Dacre’s Tales of the Peerage and the Peasantry tells the story of Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale (c.1680-1749), who is best known for arranging the daring escape of her husband from the Tower of London. In 1715, Nithsdale joined the Jacobite rebellion in support of the exiled King James II, but he was captured, tried for treason, and sentenced to death, despite Lady Nithsdale’s personal appeal to King George I. On the night before his execution, she persuaded the guards to let her see him, dressed him in women’s clothing, smuggled him out of the Tower.